Unitarian Universalists claim that one of our central principles is democratic process. As our United States democracy seems on the verge of failing, maybe it’s time to look for new ideas in alternative forms of democracy. A recent paper by Stephen C. Angle titled “Confucian Leadership Meets Confucian Democracy” explores one such alternative democracy (Journal … Continue reading "Alternative democracies"

Paula Cole Jones will lead our workshop on Saturday, August 27. Click through to learn more and sign up!

In these monthly sessions we will reflect, reset, and take action on our FUUN practices related to including and welcoming Black, Indigenous, people of color, and other marginalized groups and identify strategies to develop more multi-cultural competency as we live into our 8th Principle.

  Note— We pick up the story of the American Vice Presidency today with a non-entity that surprised himself by discovering never suspected integrity and run through more than a 150 head spinning years of our national second bananas.   With Reconstruction in force across the South, the Republicans were now in power and essentially unbeatable for the foreseeable future when Ulysses S. Grant was elected in 1868.   While personally honest, his administration was marked by corruptionand repeated scandals .   He was followed by a parade of bearded former generals, most of them men of modest talents.   The possible exception was Ohioan James Garfield, an outspoken reformer, advocate for continued Federal protection for Blacks in the Sout...

      As some of my friends know, I’m visiting an old colleague and friend who identifies as a Unitarian Universalist Christian.  Suffering from a mass of strokes he can’t really communicate much. So, we’ve ended up reading the Psalms together. For those interested, I’ve fulled about fifty-two from various recommendations of what might […]

“All I ask is no hate.  I’m on the path to be a minister and I’m living a life that is dedicated to love.  Although I draw much of my own personal theology from Christian teaching, I recognize that my way is not the only way.  Every faith base has something to offer to the […]

“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” -Lilla Watson How do you understand our work for collective liberation?

Today  my wife, my daughter Lucy and I visited Walden Pond. I know Thoreau would be surprised to see as much activity on the lake he loved but even then there were changes afoot. Today there were bathers on the beaches, and paddle boards at both ends of the lake. But it is still, and never-the-less, a place of great beauty. Even in Thoreau's time trains would pass by at one end of the lake, and there was one today as we walked the trail to his cabin site and around the circumference of the place.  By the replica of his cabin, a bronze statue of Thoreau appears to contemplate his hand held in front. I urge you to do the same. In these complex times, we're still human beings and given a chance are very much like the man who built a cabin...

By Jonathan Rosenblum | Surrounded by the vistas of western Montana, the generals of the war against Starbucks baristas will gather on August 3 at a swanky Rocky Mountain resort for three days of discussing labor-management relations. Big Sky Resort is hosting the confab, and when attendees aren’t meeting, they can avail themselves of golf, guided trout fishing, luxurious dining, and spa treatments before retiring to their $600-a-night hotel suites.

Members of the Scottish Parliament continue to move closer to granting pardons for all of the people accused, convicted, vilified or executed under the Witchcraft Act of 1563 for practicing "witchcraft." Continue reading Scottish apologies for the witch trials at The Wild Hunt.

A Prayer for Travelers, Week of August 1, 2022 Beloved, may the way ahead open and be easy. May we meet welcome at each stop along the way. May we encounter kindness and generosity and share curiosity and generous joy in return. May we travel with respect for the people...

The photo shows me standing in the doorway of a replica of Thoreau's cabin, taken by my wife, Jean. If you want to know more, there are links to many of Thoreau's published works on the Wikipedia website.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau All  worth thinking about, as how many of us might benefit from taking a more direct view of the complexities in which we've become embroiled? Make, fix and create...  

Too often, people use the word “we” in a way that leaves some people out. Part of the journey of compassion is working on eliminating the barriers between “us” and “them,” but this also requires us to be honest about who we mean when we say “we” and working towards meaning everyone. Who do you … Continue reading We

We finally made it to the ocean on Wednesday! Between Margy’s knee surgery and physical therapy, and my general fatigue, we just couldn’t do it before, despite it being our favorite summer outing. But Wednesday afternoon, we drove to Kettle Cove. We stopped for ice cream at the nearby stand first, coffee ice cream with […]

Mark your calendars for our Annual Fall Auction beginning Saturday, October 29.

Back in 1832, a Massachusetts physician named Charles Knowlton published a pamphlet on sexuality education, including instructions for contraception. Titled The Fruits of Philosophy: The Private Companion of Young Married People, Knowlton wrote his pamphlet for young married couples. He printed it privately (and anonymously), and distributed it to his patients. Knowlton, a freethinker who … Continue reading "Charles Knowlton, sexuality education pioneer"

That sorrow began to diminish when, a few nights after he died in October of 1974, I saw my Grampa LaPorte for what I thought would be the last time. I was 8 years old, and his was the first ghost I saw that I realized in the moment actually was a ghost. Continue reading Column: Things That Go Bump at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Saturday (30 July 2022) at 10:30 AM for our weekly meditation group with Larry Androes. This is a sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching. The group is free and open to all. For more information, contact Larry … Continue reading "Meditation with Larry Androes (30 July 2022)"

The River Cam flowing beside Grantchester Meadows last week  A short  “ thought for the day” offered to the Cambridge Unitarian Church as part of the Sunday Service of Mindful   Meditation  (Click on this link to hear a recorded version of the following piece) —o0o— We find ourselves living in an age when we are coming to know ever more clearly that everything moves and that what it is to be anything at all is to be something in motion.  Although this realisation feels very modern, the idea that movement is a fundamental or foundational aspect of the nature of things was first proposed some two-thousand-five-hundred years ago by Heraclitus of Ephesus who insisted that “everything flows” ( panta rhei ), that all things a...

The commission studying the living principles of our Unitarian Universalist Association asked individual UUs to name the values they wanted our principles to uphold. They made a word cloud from the responses. Notice how big “love” and “compassion” are. What would a religion that truly centered love and compassion be like?

The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), the U.S. denomination of U.S. Unitarian Universalists, holds its business meetings every year. There’s no need to hold business meetings this frequently. And in fact, holding business meetings this frequently wastes resources. I’m going to go over the reasons why we don’t need to have General Assembly every year, and … Continue reading "Why UUA General Assembly can’t be reformed"

The tabby has been hanging out in our orchard the last few days, in stalking position under the cherry tree. I had just been writing recently about how our orchard is a bird haven. The cat decided to make it a hunting ground. Every time I saw it there I chased it away. Yesterday, I […]

A  new Catholic college is opening next year in Ohio that aims at equipping students for careers in the trades while also providing a four year degree in Catholic Studies. Makes sense to me.  As Rousseau had noted, when putting young persons in a wood shop, their hands will work to the benefit of their brains. They will become philosophers while thinking themselves only craftsmen.  Such a scheme would offer both intelligence and humility, with the latter being too often lacking in the divide between academics and the trades.  Judgement stands as a barrier between social classes. A point I attempted to make in my book Wisdom of Our Hands, is that we each have direct responsibilities to encourage the growth of hand skills, for they are...

The only constant is change. This is true with everything that we do in life. The Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, senior co-minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, NJ reminded me of that. She wrote in our summer gazette about the way things in the congregation are changing, partly due to the pandemic. One example […] The post Change happens — let it roll — go with the ebb and flow appeared first on Nature's Sacred Journey.

The idea of shedding their skin, as if reinventing themselves, going through a bit of pain to be reborn as something else, something better, to be more protected, was something I wanted to do as well. Snakes are not afraid of pain if it means they’ll have a better chance at surviving. Continue reading Column: Wearing the Dead at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us next Tuesday (2 August 2022) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch. Bring your lunch and meet up with your All Souls friends, have lunch, and just catch up.

Summer religious education is more art and activity-based. All children and youth are with us in the service for the first 20 minutes or so and then are dismissed to their activities. This Sunday, the middle school / high school classroom mural is ready for painters. We are inviting the younger class to help the … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education for 31 July 2022"

Please join us on Sunday (31 July 2022) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. We will continue our discussion about the Ware Lecture from the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly 2022 featuring Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. We will also talk more about where we go from here.  We welcome your ideas … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 31 July 2022"

Please join us this Sunday (31 July 2022) at 11:00 AM for “Easy Living” by Rev. Joy Walker. We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service.  Please join us in person at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106 if you are able to do so. Our service will … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (31 July 2022)"

Let’s be honest: the environment is hostile right now. I think it’s safe to assume that a God who rarely does things in a straightforward manner wants us to approach these challenges using all the cunning, guile, and creativity at our disposal.

                             Daniel Defoe--Dissenter, polemicist, pen for hire, secret Crown agent, and novelist. Daniel Defoe is best remembered as one of the inventors of the English novel.   Robinson Crusoe was once a must read adventure for any boy back in the quaint days when boys read books instead of slaying zombies on electronic devicesand smart phones . But the Englishwriter had a long career before turning to fiction, dabbling in religious dissent, politics, court intrigues, and what occasionally passed as sedition. He was born in St Giles-without-Cripplegate parish in London about 1660.   The exact date is unknown because parish records were destroyed in the Great Fire of Londonin 1666.   That exciting even...

“You may, with good reason, feel deep anger toward the enemy. This is the starting point from which you have to work, so acknowledge your hatred. Take note of your profound reluctance to turn this enemy into a friend. Remember that we can become twinned with an enemy and come to resemble that person. Our … Continue reading Love Your Enemies

    Yesterday on Facebook I wrote: Soliciting sartorial advice. Probably a mistake on Facebook. But, I’m going to give it a shot. I’m thinking of how to class up my retirement act a bit. Even though I live in SoCal and shorts are as common as seagulls here, I give ’em a pass. Fat […]

What is our body? Is it all we are? Is it merely a container for our spirits or is it just a tool? I have pondered these questions some – they are theological ones after all. My conclusion is usually that all of the above are true and that the mind, body, spirit distinction is […]

Lessons on living from The Good Place , with help from producer Michael Schurr's new book, How to Be Perfect .

Kew Gardens has long been one of my favorite places in the world. They are the Royal Botanical Gardens started by George III and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As I mentioned in my post about walking around Oxford, I have always had a soft spot for English gardens. The oldest, like Kew or the […]

A declaration by a small group of Gardnerian practitioners regarding gender and sex has caused concern within the community. Continue reading “Traditional Gardnerian” declaration draws accusations of transphobia at The Wild Hunt.

    My friend Ken Ireland, one time Jesuit, long time Zen practitioner, blogger, and now moving into long time resident at McLeod Ganj in Dharamsala sent me the following, saying it was inspired by some of my recent ruminations around the Psalms. He generously agreed to my request to post them here… *** The […]

We are Sitges. We got here last week and we’ll be here for another eleven days or so. We are using it as a homebase while I write and we take a variety of day trips around Catalonia. Sitges is one of those places that’s been described as “the crown jewel of the Mediterranean.” It […]

We work and feel better when we are not overwhelmed, afraid, and reactive. Remember to take time to breathe. The post Three Ways to Stay Sane in a Crazy American Moment appeared first on BeyondBelief.

  Harriet Quimby in her signature plum colored flying suit in a promotional poster.   Harriet Quimby was one of a kind—actress, journalist, screenwriter, pioneer aviatrix, barnstormer before there was a word for it, and a colorful, defiant independent woman with a dash of style.   She was Nellie Bly crossed with Amelia Earhart, and a bit of the self-promotingfeminist pioneer Victoria Claffin Woodhull thrown in for good measure. Quimby was born to a farm familyin Arcadia, Michigan on May 11, 1875. Twelve years later she relocated to the San Francisco Bay area in California.   Little is known of her early life as she purposefully tried to obscure it.   She would later claim that she had been born to a wealthy family in Arroyo Grande...

The term homo economicus is the assertion by some that the purpose of man is to engage in commerce, the buying and selling of stuff. What a despicable assertion that is, for it views human beings in far too narrow a light. The idea of course is that if you have enough money, you get what you want because other folks are so hungry for money they will give you whatever you want if you offer enough of it. Would that we were more like the Dutch. To be average is good enough. To fit in to your community as a member in full, without having to buy your way in is cause for celebration at all levels. Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men in the world, decided to build a half billion dollar yacht for himself (without actually lifting a finger, of cou...

In August, we will explore healing–the ways in which our bodies, minds, and souls heal from wounds and damage, and the ways in which the healing of the self and the healing of our world are connected. Daily Compass will be taking a brief hiatus so that our curator can focus on healing themselves and … Continue reading Healing (and Hiatus)

  “The Universal School Meals Program Act will make breakfast, lunch, and after-school snacks free for every public and nonprofit private school student, regardless of family or community income, improving student academia and ending school lunch shaming.” Daily Kos via The Action Network     According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1 in 6 children — or 13 million children — face food insecurity. Children who lack access to healthy food options have a more difficult time learning. Kids read more... The post August Action Alert: No More Hungry Kids! Support Universal School Meals appeared first on Promise the Children.

I have a quick tip in this month's issue of American Woodturner Magazine, the publication of the American Association of Woodturners. The tip concerns stabilizing logs on the bandsaw to enable a safer cut. There are various jigs that you can buy, but I offer a simpler approach that doesn't require waiting for the UPS truck to arrive. People have wondered what I'll do with myself after retiring from teaching at the Clear Spring School But there're still things to teach to both children and adults, and a variety of ways that I'm offered to share what I've learned.  If you are an experienced woodturner, these photos from the magazine (originally from my shop) may tell you all that you need to know. To get the magazine on a monthly basis, b...

In this week's Pagan Community Notes: Lughnasadh blessings, Women's Task Force of the Parliament of World religion releases statement, bison return to Alaska, and more news. Continue reading Pagan Community Notes: Week of August 1, 2022 at The Wild Hunt.

      The Genjo Koan As all things are buddha-dharma, there is delusion and realization, practice, birth and death, and there are buddhas and sentient beings. As the myriad things are without an abiding self, there is no delusion, no realization, no buddha, no sentient being, no birth and death. The buddha way is, […]

                             The Lioness of Brittany Jeanne de Belleville was heroically depicted in this illustration from an illuminated manuscript. There is something about a female pirate that stirs the imagination—and evidently the loins.   Googling women pirates turns up a torrent of pictures—heaving breasts straining against thin shirts, hair flowing in the wind, cutlassor pistol held menacingly sometimes with a cringing victim at her feet.   There are drawings old and new, woodcut prints, fantasy paintings, and plenty of posed photos, some with even less clothing.   In fact, there were, indeed famous lady buccaneers most famously Grace O ’ Malley, the Queen of Umaill and Chieftain of the Irish Ó Máille...

The Supreme Court gave Biden the green light to end the policy—so what’s stopping him?

Canoe & Kayaking Event! Join Randy Jennings and Director of Lifespan RE Robin Ahearn for some evening canoeing and kayaking at 6 pm on August 9,16, and 23! This is open to all members of the congregation. RSVP’s to Robin requested. Some canoes and kayaks are available, but we ... read more . The post Religious Education News appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

Come help serve summer lunch with SCM Summer Meals Program, feeding the 80% of Schenectady school children who qualify for free school lunch. Volunteers are needed to pack and distribute lunches, play games and do crafts projects with the kids. UUSS is scheduled for August ... read more . The post Schenectady Community Ministry Summer Meals Program appeared first on Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady.

The legal battle over Chi’chil Bildagoteel (Oak Flat) is now headed to the Supreme Court. Continue reading Mining at sacred Apache site heads to Supreme Court as religious liberty case at The Wild Hunt.

Today was a day that it was a good to have a back-up plan. We went to Barcelona with the intention of taking the train to Zaragoza. Once we got there I found out that we needed to have our passports with us in order to buy non-regional train tickets. Of course, we didn’t have […]

Taken with a Fujifilm X100V Just click on the photo to enlarge it   One of the joys of living in Cambridge is being able to walk it’s many large green spaces, four of which — Coe Fen, Midsummer Common, Stourbridge Common and Ditton Meadows — regularly have cattle grazing upon them. Stourbridge Common, where this photo was taken only a couple of days ago, usually looks very green, and very English, but, right at this moment, after this month’s record-breaking temperatures and low rainfall, the scene reminded me (green Willows aside) more of the scenes of cattle grazing one can see in many a classic US Western. This feeling was undoubtedly only added to by the fact that I was shooting with a lovely jpeg recipe by Justin Gould cal...

I sat quietly at the Seiðr ritual as person after person pleaded “tell me what to do.” The fear and uncertainty are real. Let’s understand why we ask these questions, and how we can learn to deal with them even if we can’t answer them precisely.

    The Layman was once lying on his couch reading a sutra. A monk saw him and said: “Layman! You must maintain dignity when reading a sutra.” The Layman raised up one leg. The monk had nothing to say. This is an episode from the Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Yoshitaka Iriya, and Dana Fraser’s translation […]

  The USS Nautilus under the Polar ice cap. On August 3, 1958 the USS Nautilus , the U.S. Navy ’ sfirst nuclear powered submarine, crossed the North Pole under the Polar icecap.   Under the command of Captain William R. Anderson, 111 officers and crew plus four civilian scientists were on board when the ship submerged off of Point Barrow , Alaska and sailed without surfacingover 1,000 miles before passing under the Pole.   She then continued submerged until she finally surfaced between Greenland and Spitzbergen on August 5.   Within days the achievementwas touted to the press as a scientific breakthrough as part of the widely hyped International Geophysical Year.   President Dwight D. Eisenhower awarded Anderson the Legion of Meri...

The good part, for which I am grateful, is that our neighbor came to our door to talk to us. He asked whether we would mind if they took down trees in the area between our two properties. He wasn’t sure of its status, but I told him it was a “paper road” that likely […]

Sunday, August 7 All Shall Be Well 19th Annual Joint Summer Service You are invited to the annual Joint Summer Service of neighboring UU churches hosted this year by First Church of Lancaster.   The Service will be on Sunday, August 7th at 10:00 AM and will be in-person at the Lancaster church and also online   [ … ] The post Sunday, August 7 ~ All Shall Be Well ~ 10:00 a.m. appeared first on Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson.

Don’t mind us. We’re just getting through this heat wave by chilling with our summer reads, TV shows, and podcast binges. A tall glass of lemonade, with or without additive, really pairs well with them. Don’t judge! Need some recommendations? We have plenty!

After missing two years as result of pandemic precautions, the conference that focuses on Southern magical practices returned and was met with success. Continue reading Mystic South returns after two-year hiatus at The Wild Hunt.

        Other Side of Nothingness: The Zen Ethics of Time, Space, and Being Brad Warner New World Library, Novato, 2022   A Review James Ishmael Ford   I was offered a copy of Brad Warner’s new book, the Other Side of Nothingness in exchange for a review. I said sure. To be […]

As the Temple and City of Jerusalem burn Titus's Legions make off with the loot including the Menorah from the Holy of Holies. By traditionit was on this date in 70 CE that Roman Legions under the command of Titus Flavius Vespasianus, the future Emperor Titus, set fire to the Second Temple in Jerusalem destroying it and much of the city.   The date is commemorated by Tisha B’Av, the saddest day of the Hebrew Calendar. In 66 the Zealots rose up and expelled the Romans from the Judean capitol .   They held sway there for four years.   But they were divided by factionalism and were actively opposed by the Phariseesand the Sadducees who were bitterabout the Zealot’s lack of obedience to traditional Jewish law and to the authority of t...

Ivan lllich plays a small role in my book The Wisdom of  Our Hands, as I mentioned in my chapter on Tools, the need that we place emphasis on tools that offer what Illich called "conviviality." There's an excellent article about Illich in the summer edition of American Affairs: https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2022/05/the-corruption-of-the-best-on-ivan-illich/ Illich’s examination of schooling helped lead him to a broader thesis he called “paradoxical counterproductivity.” This was a dynamic that took hold “whenever the use of an institution paradoxically takes away from society those things the institution was designed to provide.” It is not simply that school fails to impart knowledge; it also degrades and cor­rupts knowl...

        Other Side of Nothing: The Zen Ethics of Time, Space, and Being Brad Warner New World Library, Novato, 2022   A Review James Ishmael Ford   I was offered a copy of Brad Warner’s new book, the Other Side of Nothing in exchange for a review. I said sure. Now the pile […]

The Senate votes soon on a major legislative overhaul that could affect the future of climate and immigration policy. Here’s why it matters.

The pagan holiday of Lughnasa traces its roots back to old festivals that celebrated the first fruits of the harvest. In northern Europe, early August was the time when agriculturalists would begin to know what kind of grain crop they’d harvest this year. And they’d begin to have fresh grains again, instead of having to … Continue reading "Lughnasa"

In July 2022, Side With Love hosted the Climate Disaster Response Workshop for individuals interested in organizing in their communities to respond to climate disasters, led by Rachel Myslivy, Climate Justice Organizer, and Rev. Ranwa Hammamy, Congregational Justice Organizer. What now? Watch the recording of the Climate Disaster Response Workshop View the presentation slides ( Slides ) ( PDF ) View the Climate Disaster Preparedness for UUs Guide Continue the conversation: join the #issue-climate-justice Slack channel We invite you to join our Green Sanctuary Team Meetings, which take place virtually on every third Wednesday of the month at 5PT - 6MT - 7CT - 8ET . These community conversations are open to anyone who is interested in tran...

The annual report issued in June by the U.S. Government’s Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) highlights the countries and entities around the globe where religious freedoms are under serious attack or being threatened. Continue reading Commission releases report on religious freedoms around the world at The Wild Hunt.

The current state of my study . . . Thankfully, I can down tools for a little while during August and try to rest up before recommencing work in September. So, in consequence, I won’t be posting anything here until then. However, it struck me that I might post a useful holding post at this point to direct readers to Jeffrey W Robbins & Clayton Crockett’s excellent and very clear essay called “A radical theology for the future: five theses.” It represents well the kind of direction my own theological thinking has been moving in for the past decade and I’m very grateful to the authors for writing it in the first place. So, in case it helps any of you I post a link to it below.  As always, thank you to all my readers for your sup...

A Prayer for Hospitality Workers - Week of August 8, 2022 Grace and Generosity support and sustain all those who work in hospitality and related trades and businesses. May each and all be treated with respect, dignity, and generosity, recognizing the hard work of showing up night and day to...

Compassion for Campers made the front page in July 2020.  Sue Rekenthaler and Patrick Murfin set up gear for distribution at the First Methodist Church in McHenry masked for safety during the pandemic. Two years ago, with most of the country still pretty much on Coronavirus lock down and most of the McHenry County unhoused were locked outof shelters and daytime places of refuge Compassion for Campers struggled to adapt to the new reality and get our friendsand neighbors the gear they desperately needed.   We established twice monthly distributionsat rotating church sites in Crystal Lake, McHenry, and Woodstock.   But the logistics of storing and transporting our supplies to and from the sites each time was daunting.     Worse, the d...

When I was a kid, my favorite store was Barnes & Noble. I’ve always been a reader, and quite frankly, I’ve only ever really felt qualified to work with books. I started out with the starry-eyed vision of publishing everyone has: editing. I learned in graduate school that being an editor probably wasn’t for me and, feeling a little hopeless toward the end of my graduate career, took a marketing and sales class. It changed the game for me.

My trip to Walden Pond lead me to do some reading of Thoreau's "Paradise  (To Be) Regained" in which he reviewed a book (at Emerson's suggestion) written by John Adolphus Etzler, a German engineer who proposed a scheme through which men would no longer have to do diddly squat. Etzler in his book, The Paradise within Reach of All Men, without Labour by powers of Nature and Machinery (Pittsburgh, 1833), proposed a utopian scheme in which the sun, the tides and wind would be harnessed to do all things, much the same way engineers are proposing now. Thoreau found a few things wanting in Etzler's scheme and it's best to read it yourself, as you can do here: https://gutenberg.org/files/63459/63459-h/63459-h.htm not just for a view of modern ...

Rev. Nancy McDonald Ladd recently joined Rev. Erika Hewitt for a spirited conversation about how our Unitarian Universalist theology informs the the art and craft of worship.... Continue reading "The Alchemy of Worship"

As my wife takes our daughter to bed for a well-deserved nap, Hanne takes her bicycle out of the shed, hands me the map, a helmet, and a bottle of water. In less time than it takes to recite the runes of the elder futhark, I am out adventuring. Continue reading Column: Nordic Heritage and Scandinavian Idyll at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Saturday (6 August 2022) at 10:30 AM for our weekly meditation group with Larry Androes. This is a sitting Buddhist meditation including a brief introduction to mindfulness meditation, 20 minutes of sitting, and followed by a weekly teaching. The group is free and open to all. For more information, contact Larry … Continue reading "Meditation with Larry Androes (6 August 2022)"

  I used to write lots of letters to the editor, especially to our local McHenry County, Illinois daily newspaper the Northwest Herald .   Not so much anymore.   The paper kept cutting back on maximum length—it is now posted at just 250 words, although I have seen letters printed that exceeded that limit.   Your long-winded scribe can hardly write a good morning in 250 words.   In addition, the responses posted on-line were often so filled with vitriol and hate—and not uncommonly actual threats of violence—that it was discouraging.   Even the Herald editors recognized that problem and now don’t allow comments.   Anyway, I have this blog platform on which to share my blathering. Illinois syndicated politics and government c...

"Things men have made with wakened hands, and put soft life into are awake through years with transferred touch, and go on glowing for long years. And for this reason, some old things are lovely warm still with the life of forgotten men who made them."—D.H.Lawrence We will each be forgotten at some point, and yet what we've created and passed along selflessly may live in other hands through extended self. Parker Palmer, suggests this poem as an allegory for teaching.Khing, the master carver, made a bell stand Of precious wood. When it was finished, All who saw it were astounded. They said it must be The work of spirits. The Prince of Lai said to the master carver "What is your secret?" Khing replied, "I am only a workman: I have no se...

    I searched my blog for the terms “defining” and “religion.” So I know those words appear twenty-six times in my various reflections. One of them from a year or so ago was even titled “Defining Religion: Or, a Fool’s Errand.” The title is probably a truth… No doubt religion is a complicated word. […]

The National Weather Service calls this “oppressive” heat and humidity. When I got up at 6:00 a.m., the temperature inside the house was 81 degrees Fahrenheit, and it was maybe two degrees cooler outside. I went for a walk while it was still relatively cool. A light breeze was coming in off the water, just … Continue reading "Heat and humidity"

A cursory glance can notice a tiny thing, yet sometimes the tiniest things can cause the greatest damage. Take tineola bissellielta, the not-so-innocent common clothes moth. Continue reading Column: The Common Clothes Moth and the Gift of Renewal at The Wild Hunt.

Please join us on Sunday (14 August 2022) at 1215 PM or immediately after the worship service (whichever comes later) for a special congregational meeting. You can attend in person in the sanctuary or you can attend via Zoom. We must have a quorum for this meeting. All are welcome to attend but only active … Continue reading "Special Congregational Meeting (14 August 2022)"

Please join us next Tuesday (9 August 2022) at 12 noon for our weekly Zoom lunch. Bring your lunch and meet up with your All Souls friends, have lunch, and just catch up.

Summer religious education is more art and activity-based. All children and youth are with us in the service for the first 20 minutes or so and then are dismissed to their activities. On this Sunday we will pause on painting the mural and design some unique works of art we can wear. Children and youth … Continue reading "Children and Youth Religious Education for 7 August 2022"

Please join us on Sunday (7 August 2022) at 9:00 AM for our adult religious education class via Zoom. Recent news events have seen repetition of the mistaken notion that the United States is “a Christian nation.” Those who say this often point to the founders and to references to God in some of our … Continue reading "Online Adult Religious Education — 7 August 2022"

Every month, we dedicate all of our non-pledge income to an organization doing the work that best embodies our Unitarian Universalist principles and values. For August 2022, we have chosen Basic Necessities — a diaper bank providing diapers, period products, and incontinence supplies to all who need them, at no charge. Basic Necessities is a … Continue reading "Basic Necessities — August 2022 Give-Away-The-Plate Recipient"

Please join us this Sunday (7 August  2022) at 11:00 AM for “Power for Good” by Rev. Barbara Jarrell. We will be meeting in the sanctuary for this worship service.  Please join us in person at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 9449 Ellerbe Road, Shreveport LA  71106 if you are able to do so. Our service … Continue reading "All-Ages Worship (7 August 2022)"

Early New England meetinghouses, used for both public worship and for town meetings, differ from later church buildings in a couple of ways. First, meetinghouses lack the axial orientation of churches. A church is rectangular, and you enter through the main door in one of the short walls. The congregation is aligned along an axis … Continue reading "Meetinghouse"

Are the Gods part of Nature? Some of Them clearly are. Others, I don’t know – although I tend to think so. What I know is that I worship Them because They are good and holy and worthy of worship. And so is Nature.

Kon Tiki under sail.  She flew the flags of not only Norway of other nations represented on the crew or which offered material support to the voyage including Peru, Italy Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. On August 7, 1947 the sailing raft Kon Tiki crashed into a barrier reef off an uninhabited islet near Raroia Atoll in the Tuamotu Group of French Polynesia. The ship’s Norwegian crew led by explorer Thor Heyerdahl managed to drag the craft safely to the beach.   After a few days of being stranded, they were rescued by Polynesian natives from a near-by island who came to investigate the source of unusual jetsam that had washed up on their shore.   It was the end of a grand adventurethat Heyerdahl would chron...

      Rabindranath Tagore died on this day, the 7th of August in 1941. He had been seriously ill for five years, and many considered his death a release from unmerited suffering. He was 80 years old. Tagore was born on the 6th of May,1861. He was a Bengali poet, a musician, and an […]

We tend to see ourselves, not from within, but as a reflection of our interactions with others. I  reach out and grasp the nearest object, and feel its weight and texture. It is a bit harder to do that with myself, so when it comes to grasping my own purpose in life, there can be a challenge. I suspect that's true for others as well. Yesterday I shared a poem about Khing, the master carver, whose work, and the perfection of it, required work first upon himself, on the discovery of self that led to finding the perfect tree without whose participation the work would have been trivial and of little account. The interesting thing is that when one commences upon the search for the realization of self, we discover no distinct boundaries. Ther...

What does it mean to truly welcome people into our faith community?

We completed our hundredth hike of 2022 yesterday and we made it a special event. We took the ferry to Angel Island and climbed to the top of Mt Livermore which incidentally is one of the rare mountains named for a woman – Caroline Livermore. The panoramic views from the top were amazing. We could […]